Tolkien Estate blocks new Tolkien book

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Originally posted by Mithalwen
I can't believe that the book was so scandalous but you can't but wonder. I can't help thinking that this would have had a very limited circulation of fairly devoted fans at £30 a pop had they left well alone.

What on earth was it that was so problematic

Exactly. Are UK copyright, publishing laws etc. so much stricter
then other countries? Or EU regulations. And if so could it be
published in other countries (U.S., Canada, Australia)?

Btw, I'd like to read a bio like this, but at 60+ dollars.....

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

Btw, I'd like to read a bio like this, but at 60+ dollars.....

Perhaps you can satisfy (or whet) your appetite with the first small volume which came out of Hilary's papers: Black and White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien.

I've linked to an interview with the illustrator, Jeff Murray, on Tolkien Library, but that page includes a link to Amazon uk for ordering the book. At either ₤7 or ₤9, it's hardly pricey.

There's a bit of explanation, too, of the provenance of the material.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

Ironically, the most detailed information I could find was right here on the Downs -- in fact Google is so swift that your post in this very thread, Bb, was near the top of the list.

gulp! But I know nuffink of the matter except that it happened--shows you how good teh interwebs are.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

I suppose serious fans of both Tolkien and Beowulf comprise a relatively small demographic, but I would've expected some ongoing curiosity from Anglo-Saxon scholars at least.

It's a very small demographic. Very few universities require Old English--which needs to be learnt as a separate language--from their English majors. I suspect I come from one of the very few North American ones that do and I know of English ones which do not as well.

Even medieval studies--which are in the dialects of middle English and look recognisable to modern English readers--are being lost because not many wish to undertake a rigorous training in reading old literature these days.

Also, with recent translations such as Seamus Heaney's there's less need for another, even one from a pre-eminent OE scholar.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

Then again, none of us are getting any younger, are we?

At my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near.